In today’s global economy, the world is connected more than ever before. Online marketplaces and eCommerce drive up sales for many businesses, causing them to expand quickly over a short period of time. If your business struggles with handling your growing shipping volume, a third-party logistics (3PL) partnership will help remove some of the load and improve your shipping process. Though the relationship between your company and your 3PL provider may take time to establish, optimizing a 3PL partnership will help your business accelerate its supply chain process and help you get the transportation your business needs. In this article, we’ll explain some of the necessary steps to get your 3PL partnership off the ground and running.
Communicate What You Want & Need
Just like any business relationship, knowing what you want is vital in starting a 3PL partnership’s initial success. Effective communication means your logistics provider understands your exact needs and wants. From there, the 3PL provider will be able to tackle your biggest transportation issues and begin optimizing your partnership to best suit those needs. Clear and consistent communication helps both parties create momentum and strive to reach goals.
Customer Expectations Should Be a Priority
With fast turn around becoming a common expectation among online customers, it’s more important than ever for a 3PL to meet customer expectations. If the partnership expects customers to receive their items within a few days, then that must be fulfilled. This will be addressed in most initial communications.
Uphold Service Excellence
At PortCity, we strive for excellence in everything we do. Because of this constant strive for excellence, our customers will get a logistics service that goes above and beyond the call of duty. Upholding service excellence is a vital part of what we strive for.
Ongoing internal auditing and measuring allows for improvements over time that will optimize the relationship between the client and the PCL. Eventually, this builds a trusting relationship between both parties that can lead to more efficient and ongoing opportunities if customer and client expectations are met.
Share Information
Sharing information will be mutually beneficial to both parties. Warehouse management systems allow 3PL clients to access information about their inventory 24 hours a day. This transparency optimizes a 3PL partnership by keeping the customer in control of their inventory and in constant contact with the provider.
Transparent information sharing also allows for a 3PL’s flexibility to come into play. If sales are up, the 3PL can expand to make up for the high volume. If sales are low or are in a slow season, the 3PL can accommodate. Communication between both parties allows for this scalability to be possible.
Contact PortCity
Optimizing a 3PL partnership provides numerous opportunities for businesses looking to make the most out of their shipping. If you’re looking for a 3PL that will help your business grow and compete, contact PortCity. Get a free quote and speak with one of our representatives today.
